Oasis
by annaoi
Summary: ONE SHOT. An email not meant to be sent forces Bruce and Diana to confront what plagues them.


_Author's note: Sorry I kept editing this. I'm trying to fix some grammar and typo errors. (ugh. I knew I should've tripled checked.)_

* * *

 ** _Princess,_**

 ** _I've been lying to you. I've been hurting you. There's no amount of sympathy I deserve…_**

Bruce wasn't too intoxicated when he wrote that email in the middle of the night. However, he was indeed intoxicated enough. The Scarecrow's new toxin had that affect when the Arkham escapee sprayed it on his face but it wasn't enough to stop him from taking the bad guy down. So as usual, he went back to the cave. But he was a little too unhinged. A little too impulsive. A little too careless.

And a little too driven.

And thus, the drunken email.

In the morning, after managing a massive headache, he tried to hack the Watchtower's email system, but the attempt only provided him the information that his email had already been read. So it was too late… There's nothing that he can do.

Now, when a mission required both of them together, He looks at her, wondering what she must have thought of the message. Diana is currently piloting the Javelin from across his seat. Making herself busy. Too busy. But she could've said something by now. There was enough time and she's usually honest enough to mention it. To his disappointment, she stayed silent throughout their travel. Avoiding eye contact. Always gripping the wheel too tight that he swears that he heard a crack at some point. It's hard not to pore over the possible reactions she could have. An enthusiastic answer would be the best of them all. He could also settle for confusion and uncertainty.

But that hard look on her face steers clear of those. She looks… mad. Or maybe even enraged. She's never the best one to hide everything that she feels.

"I think we should land here" Shayera says as she leans toward the pilot's side of the cockpit. The Amazon princess flicks some switches for the engine settings and the landing gear, then she tilts the handwheel for the descent. It only takes her a few seconds to effectively land on a rocky surface.

Immedaitely after the jet is secured on ground, all three of them clips off the safety belts and proceeds to get out of the jet wordlessly. Hawkgirl is the first one to land on the gravel and break the silence.

"I guess the reports are solid. The jungle is spooky and oddly placed."

Wonder Woman follows to the avian woman's side and talks exclusively to her "It seems like a large oasis. A dangerous one since three hikers didn't get out of it unscathed."

Batman finally takes a good look of it himself and comments. "Our commlinks might not work fully since the rocks that surround the greenery are magnetic"

Hawkgirl turns to him. "Do we have equipment to counter the effects?"

He frowns, making an already straight lip into a droopy one. "Unfortunately, none of our gadgets are immune. We'd just have to manage with what we have. You'll have to scout on the skies and see if there's anything strange."

Then he looks at Diana for a second. She doesn't return it.

"Diana and I will have to travel by foot."

All three of them inspect the spans of the massive jungle oasis from afar for the final time. The lush greenery is just too much for it to be natural. It would've been impossible to grow a jungle territory in this barren valley. The rocks proved it. But somehow… someone was able to grow every living plant known to man.

There's only one candidate for it. And that's Poison Ivy.

"I hope she can't fly. Or else we're screwed here." Shayera says.

"As far as I know, that's not her specialty. But she does seem to have gotten more powerful" the princess replies. Shayera turns to her to react on Diana's unusual tone. She was clearly noticing that there's something up with her.

"Too powerful" Batman adds. He notices Shayera changing her sights to him. It's obvious that she's seeing the tension between him and the princess for the first time, which causes her to head for her role quickly.

"Well then, better get our heads into the game" she says before propelling into the air with her powerful wings.

Next, Diana begins the stride. Bruce glances at her again before following her path.

The princess reaches the greenery first and draws her sword to cut the vines that were getting in the way. Bruce uses his compact laser to help her. They reach the outer layer of the jungle in just a few minutes. Trees of all shapes and sizes tower over them that they almost block every ray of sunshine. Birds can be heard, which indicates that the oasis has been in this place for quite some time. Bruce activates his scanner on his left gauntlet. The small screen hazes for a little while (because of the magnetic field) and then gives him a clear thermal picture of everything within a hundred meter radius. So far, every tree oozes unusual warmth. Everything is too warm for him to read any human or animal, which poses a problem in locating Ivy. Somehow, there's a strange feeling that she's expecting them, but they continue anyway.

After several meters, the massive roots make the path more uneven so Diana occasionally carries Bruce to fly over the biggest clusters. She'd hold the middle of his chest like she was hugging him and just jumps to move forward. She'd use her flight to soften the landing and to maintain stealth. Every time she does that, his mind recalls their current complication. Her touch makes him warm. Her breath, no matter how unintentionally intimate, distracts him. His words on the email reflect every bit of that.

 **… _You don't know how much you affect me every time I see you. It's hard not get lost in it. It's hard not to feel pain as well…_**

However, she stays silent, probably contemplating as hard as he is.

They reach a massive wall of boulders that was held together by a mixture of vines and roots. The gigantic trees that they saw earlier seem to have been cloned into larger versions. There was obviously something behind it that Ivy doesn't want anyone to find out.

"You think it's safe enough to hop over?" she asks him. And it's the first time she talked to him since the email. Similarly to the handwheel earlier, she grips her sword tight.

"I'm not sure." He looks at her. She's still not looking at him back. He presses his ear for his commlink. Again a haze then it works.

"Hawkgirl. Status."

" _Noth-n-weird-still-ooking-Ivy's—nowhe—r-"_

The haze comes back, but fortunately, he could still understand everything despite the choppiness.

"Can you locate us?"

" _Sort-f-seems-ike-ere's-a-wall—around—th-cent—r—part."_

He makes a gruff sound. He clicks off the commlink and faces Diana.

"No choice but to check it out"

Then…She looks at him… For the first time… She nods to respond but there's something on her face that indicate irritation… Or maybe there's something she just can't hold in anymore. He initiates a break from their current task by finally facing her. It has to be now no matter the mission. He chooses his words carefully until he finally starts _the_ discussion.

"Diana… I…"

But he can't continue. Something stops him somehow. He recalls another set of words from last night.

 **… _I love you. I need you…_**

He should feel regret, but he doesn't.

"How can you say that to me?" she interjects

He focuses his eyes towards her, keeping the temptation of tearing away his cowl at bay. Her sincere gaze locks on him like a pair of eagle eyes. Wisely, she moves closer and continues with a discreet voice. Even though she whispers everything her harsh tone is still evident.

"It took me a year to forget about all of it, Bruce. It took me _a year_ to get over you! I was finally happy! I was finally seeing you as just colleague rather than something more."

He keeps himself silent, absorbing every emotion that she needs to express.

"And now you send that stupid email and assume that I drop everything you did to me?"

Somehow, he feels the need to defend himself and say that the email was just a drunken mistake. Just a minor lapse.

"Diana, it was mistake. I wasn't myself. I-"

But she isn't finished and she isn't prepared to consider it lightly.

"Oh now you're telling again, huh? Now you're taking it all back. It's what you good at, Bruce. You say that you love me but you always bar me from ever moving forward with you. Always parading those absurd rules of yours."

Logic tells him that he should stop this conversation, that he should say it was just a drunken email, but he wills himself anyway. His hand clenches like he's trying hard not to let go of the thread that was still connecting both of them. That email is the absolute truth. That message is everything Bruce Wayne had hoped to tell her. Drunken or not, he can't deny every word.

"I'm trying to make amends. I know my mistake now and I'm trying to make to make it right. Don't you still want to hear that?" he utters.

 **… _Do you still love me?..._**

She adjusts her stature. She's trying to keep herself together. She's trying to keep her resolve.

"I can't fall for that anymore."

"Just listen. I…". He attempts to grab her hand. He wants to feel her warmth again.

Before he can ever touch her, she moves away.

"Don't… just don't." she finally says.

The sounds of the jungle overwhelm the silence that comes next. And they can't recover from it. He can't shake off the feeling that this might be last of their talks. No more thinking of possibilities. No more _them_. He felt a crack inside him. It's the ceramic heart of his that was already shattered years ago. Somehow, it still has the capability to be broken some more.

Diana seems unfazed, but there there's something underneath that's she's hiding from him. Finally, she steps in to close the gap again and hugs around his chest. Bruce reminds himself that this was for a jump over boulders. _This was just for the mission_. He reminds himself that this it couldn't mean something else anymore.

Then...

As she prepares for the jump. A slight tremor on the ground was felt.

Immediately, Diana lets go of him and prepares for an attack with a stance. He does the same by taking out a few batarangs and making his own pose.

And right on time their scout in the skies confirms their instincts.

"— _ey guys!-I—ink-I see Ivy"_

The boulders in front of them start to move. The noise made the whole thing colossal than it already was. For moment, Bruce thought that the huge rocks were levitating as if Ivy had somehow developed telekinesis, but quickly he realized that the vines and the roots that hold them together were doing the lifting. Something in his gut tells him that they came under prepared.

The boulders are moved away and a path was opened up.

Ivy is welcoming them with intimidation.

"I knew you'd come but it took some time to find you" the woman in green says with a sultry voice.

Poison Ivy's sat at a wooden throne that's adorn with flowers. She was high above in a mound of plant-rock mixture. Next, she stands showing off her new revealing wardrobe as if they came here just to see it. As if _he_ came here just to see it.

"My garden has grown so much that I get lost sometimes. Fortunately, other people get lost in here too. My darlings are always asking me for meat." She touches an approaching venus flytrap and scratches its chin with adoration.

"We know what you did with those hikers, Ivy" Diana utters, "This has to stop now!"

Unfortunately, Ivy's attention refrains from breaking focus on Batman.

"My darlings can smell everything now. They can smell you from a mile away." She sounds so lost in her new strength.

Bruce keeps his stance. He's waiting for the villainess' first move. Meanwhile, he catches a glimpse on Diana. The princess seems to be on the same disposition despite earlier.

"They can smell everything about you." Ivy continues as other plants extend limbs to catch the attention of their queen.

"They can smell your breath, your suit. They can even smell… your pheromones. And they tell me that you like her."

Bruce makes note of it as an upgrade to her powers. Ivy's expression turns dangerous. More venus flytraps emerge behind her. Bigger ones. Gigantic ones.

"They tell me that you like _her_ …" she repeats, but she's looking at Diana now.

"They tell me…you… like her…" her eyes turn back to him… and then.

"You like her...BETTER THAN ME!"

That's when all the plants with teeth converge on both of them. Shayera landed just in time to block the first one with her mace. Diana and Bruce block the next ones with their own weapons. Her sword sliced every plant life. He threw enough batarangs to cut several moving plants at once. With the entire flora trying to eat them, there was no time to strategize a plan, but Shayera talks anyway.

"So," she starts as she pounds on a medium sized venus flytrap, "What's the plan?"

Batman throws a couple of ice pellets onto a group of greenery that seem to target him. They immediately get engulfed with liquid nitrogen and freeze like statues.

"Take her down." He says in a gruff manner.

Batman considers that this isn't the usual clash with Ivy. Her plants are stronger and deadlier. The venus flytraps seem to have evolved to a poisonous version because he notices secretions on the tips of their fangs.

"And don't get bitten"

"That's it? No actual battle plan?"

When Batman doesn't reply she just utters an "ugh.."

As he throws another set of pellets, he focuses his eyes on Ivy. She seemed lost to herself, dangling on a tree branch near her floral throne. Watching and laughing. She isn't herself, or at least, she seems crazier than usual.

"Her upgrades are clouding her mind."

Diana cut another in front of him by her sword. "You mean her plants are controlling her somehow?" the princess asks.

"Possibly. We need to put some sort of barrier from their control. We need to clear her mind before knocking her out."

He glances at the princess and sees her lasso. Then he turns to Shayera who is now about twenty feet up, fighting the larger ones that chased her in the air.

"You need to create a diversion" he says through the comm. link.

Hawkgirl nods and flies eastward. Then the giant plants follow her. As Diana continues to defend herself from a wave of flytraps, he calls to her.

"You need to get up there and –"

"Got it.", the princess interrupts. As always, she's quick in following his plan.

Then she flew westward. The plants followed her as expected. Bruce throws more ice pellets to help her clear a path. Then he runs back to the front where Ivy has a clear sight of him. Hopefully, her focus is still on him.

"Ivy. You need to stop right now. You don't have to attack us. You don't have to attack me." He just got to make it sound personal to make it effective.

Ivy's eyes peers down to him. She spots him and expressing some satisfaction on her face. She halts the plants that were about to attack him.

Good. Much better.

"For a second, I thought you've decided to ignore me." she hollers.

"Have you ever considered that your plants, _your darlings_ , are lying to you?"

"Why would they? I adore them. They adore me back." she says like she's sure of it.

"You said it yourself. They're asking you for meat. You gave them consciousness and strength. Without you, they can't eat as much as they like."

"I'm glad you noticed that and, most importantly, I'm surprised that you took interest in them. But what are you implying? That they manipulated me to give them the capability to attack? That they did all of this for the sake of their hunger?"

"Yes"

She laughs at that. The smaller flytraps by her side seem to laugh with her.

"I couldn't care less. I should be saying the same to you though. I overheard some of your… discussion with _her_. You manipulated _her_. _You_ Lied to _her_ in the past. I'd say you are no better. I should know. You did the same thing to me"

Bruce pauses. His eyes squint for a more a moment.

"Yes. I did all of that to protect you. You need help Ivy."

She laughs again.

"Does she need help as well?'

" _Not at all."_ It isn't his voice who answered that.

Diana is behind Ivy all of a sudden and throws a loop of the lasso to subdue Ivy. The villainess hisses in anger but she's too late.

Or is she…

In a split second before the lasso touches her skin, she seems to have willed a large flytrap to attack Batman from the side. It's fast and near enough that he doesn't have time to react. No one could've beaten its speed. Large teeth pierce through the kevlar and even through different layers of armor. Bruce feels it from his shoulder to his chest.

Diana screams his name

He cries in pain but he's still in his senses that he smashes couple of ice pellets onto the plant with his palm. The flytrap freezes quickly. He smashes through it with his fist to kill it. Then the frozen plant disintegrates in front of him.

With his hands, he tries to find the holes on his chest to assess the damage as quickly as possible. There's blood. A lot of it. Meanwhile, he can hear Diana's screams of anger and concern as she quickly put more loops on the lasso on Ivy before tying a secure knot.

In his peripheral he can see Shayera landing as quickly as she can to his aid. By the time she reaches him, Diana is already there, catching him as he collapse to the ground.

It all seems to happen in slow motion.

Bruce feels more pain. Then he feels cold.

The last thing he sees is Diana, bursting into tears and her hand holding his face.

 ** _... There's nothing left to say but to say sorry. I am deeply sorry, Diana. I truly am. I hope you can forgive me. I hope we can be together._**

 ** _Love,_**

 ** _Bruce._**

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

There's a slow beeping sound. It sounds quite familiar and yet he doesn't have a response to it.

Bruce feels heavy… and tired.

He can't move, or open his eyes. He can't even open his mouth. The fatigue is too much for all of it to happen. His shoulder and his chest felt a little sore but he can tell that there was a lot of repaired damage. He can feel the bandages. He can feel the tube that somebody shoved into his throat.

He doesn't like it. Not one bit of it. But nothing works to see where he is and what's happening. He wills his body to move but nothing works.

Nothing…. Nothing… until…. someone's voice emerges.

"How is he?"

"Still the same"

 _Diana?_

"Do you want to rest for a while? I can watch him-"

"No, it-it's OK. I can stay here"

"You sure?"

"Positive"

There was silence. Slowly in his mind, Bruce recognizes the man's voice. _Clark?_

"What did J'onn say?"

"He says that the antidote is working but it's slower than anticipated. The poison is still in his system. He's still... paralyzed."

"How long before he can get back to his feet?"

"About a week or two."

"I see. That's good. At least for recovery. He's been through worse."

"Yeah." she says softly.

"I'll see you later, Di. Tell me when he wakes up or anything"

"Ok"

He hears a gust of wind after that. Clark must've flown away.

Next, no one talks. Only the beeping sound. Then he feels someone sit beside him at the bed. Her fingers wrapped around his hand.

"You know… I was lying to myslef back there… when I said that I can't fall for it anymore… which is ironic because I'm the one who has a Lasso of Truth.

She laughs softly but she composes herself immediately.

"The truth is… I did fall for it. I wanted to. But then I was just too angry to show it to your face."

She pauses.

"I only realized now that we switched places. When you said you loved me, you were echoing my old self. When I decided to get mad at you, I remembered your stubbornness… Bruce, I'm glad you told me"

She sighs unknowingly that he can feel her breath on his skin.

"If only I listened to you, we would've found Ivy before she found us. I would've saved you"

She tightens her grip on his hand.

" _I would have saved you_ " she says again with so much regret in her voice. It almost sounds like she's crying.

She leans closer and whispers "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

He wants to tell her that it wasn't her fault. He wants to tell her that he loves her.

"I love you… Do you still love me?"

He wants to get up and just kiss her so badly, but he can't. He has to wait. He has to settle with something less.

His urge to respond renews a slight vigor in him that he is able to do something that was impossible moments before:

He squeezes her hand.

 **The End**

* * *

 _Author's Note: I'm baaaaack! Back from finishing school stuff. I hope you like this one and I hope you guys won't find it too touchy-feely. I was feeling emotional lately and I just had to express everything through something I could do quickly. Since I still need to buy more pencils to draw stuff, I just went with writing this story. I need a practice with some angst anyway. Again, this is set in the JL/JLU cartoons_

 _I guess I'll write some more if work permits. I have like two possible stories I thought for myself there in my bio but it could grow into a longer list. But I'm not promising anything, if I can't get the plot going then I just have to move on to the next story I think of. I might draw a companion piece for this story, if I have enough time._

 _Reviews are welcome. I'll edit soon if I find errors._


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